From Oslo to Gothenburg, The Cure’s summer keeps changing shape
Two Scandinavian festival sets complete the tour’s latest leg, with Oslo given a deep 28-song programme and Gothenburg a tighter closing-night sequence.
The Cure’s 2026 Festival Summer reached Scandinavia this week with two deliberately different shows: a 28-song set at Oslo’s Øyafestivalen on 12 August, followed by a tighter 23-song headline performance at Way Out West in Gothenburg on 14 August.
Oslo had room to wander. The main set moved from “Alone” and “Pictures of You” through “A Night Like This”, “Burn” and “Fascination Street”, then opened into deeper catalogue choices before “Endsong”. A long encore carried the brighter run of singles without losing the scale established earlier in the night.
Compression without retreat
Gothenburg worked to a shorter festival frame, but the change was not simply a diminished version of Oslo. The band reshaped the sequence to preserve its contrasts: the current album at the edges, a dark central stretch, then the rapid pop release of the encore.
That adaptability has become the defining live story of 2026. Eden Gallup’s addition widened the sound; his emergency move to bass kept Berlin running; Simon Gallup’s return restored the familiar engine; Gabriel Cooper’s Nîmes appearances introduced a song-specific guest colour. Around those personnel moments, the set list has kept moving.
The next phase brings major UK and Irish dates, including Manchester, Belfast, Dublin and Edinburgh, before France closes the month. Halfway through August, the evidence is strong: The Cure have treated the festival circuit as a series of individual concerts, not a single package moved from field to field.
Sources and further reading: Cureation: Oslo set list · Cureation: Gothenburg set list · The Cure: official 2026 shows